NASHVILLE — Passage of the qualifying deadline for legislative candidates last week leaves Republicans well-positioned to achieving their goal of making Democrats politically irrelevant in the 108th General Assembly that convenes next year.
In part, that's because 11 incumbent Democrats — seven representatives and four senators — are voluntarily not seeking re-election.
At least four more incumbent Democrats — three representatives and one senator — are certain to be ousted later because of Republican-controlled redistricting leaves incumbents running against one another in the same district.